Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. - Matthew 24:42-44 KJV
We are given these four weeks each year to get ready for the coming of Christ, but what does that mean?
For many people, this means checking off a list of presents we need to buy for family and friends. For some, it means going into debt. What does this have to do with preparing for Christ? For thousands of years, the Jewish people have prepared and watched for the Messiah. What were they looking for? Their idea of a Messiah was of a powerful king and so they missed the signs that pointed to Jesus.
We, too, can miss the signs of the presence of Jesus Christ among us. Christmas celebrates the fact that Jesus came, lived and died for us to save us from the punishment of our sins, and rose from the dead so that we would know of our eternal salvation and the love of God that promises forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. We can best prepare for Christmas by celebrating this reality everyday.
Advent is a time for us to think about this great gift and ask ourselves how we are preparing to meet Him when He returns. If we put all our energies into shopping, we are missing the mark. Just as we are Easter people, living with a sense of joy in our salvation, we are Christmas people, welcoming Christ into our world each day in the people we meet, in the circumstances where we find ourselves.
In the story of the Fourth Wiseman, our hero falls behind in his search for the newborn king because he stops and helps people in need for thirty-three years and finally meets him at the foot of the cross on Calvary. He then realizes that he has “met” Christ in all the people he helped over those years. This Advent, let’s be alert and watchful and recognize the signs that Christ is among us.
May God with us as we begin our preparations to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Let us keep our focus on the true meaning of Christmas and be watchful, so that we might recognize opportunities to find Christ and reach out to those in need with compassion and love. May we make sure that we give our hearts and lives to God and take time daily to seek and praise Him and share His Truth with the world. May the LORD our God and Father in Heaven help us to stay diligent and obedient and help us to guard our hearts in Him and His Word daily. May He help us to remain faithful and full of excitement to do our duty to Him and for His glorious return and our reunion in Heaven as well as all that awaits us there. May we never forget to thank the LORD our God and our Creator and Father in Heaven for all this and everything He does and has done for us! May we never forget who He is, nor forget who we are in Christ and that God is always with us! What a mighty God we serve! What a Savior this is! What a wonderful Lord, God, Savior and King we have in Jesus Christ! What a loving Father we have found in the Almighty God! What a wonderful God we serve! His will be done!
Thanks and glory be to God! Blessed be the name of the LORD! Hallelujah and Amen!
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